Creating ‘more reasons, rituals and occasions’ seen as a path to reviving interest in wine: study

The 2026 Wine & Gathering Study, which surveyed 1,553 wine consumers, found that 41% said having a specific occasion or reason to gather would make them more likely to host friends and family with wine. And while 77% say busy schedules make it harder to see loved ones as often as they’d like, wine is already deeply embedded in those moments: 61% say it is “almost always” part of their social gatherings.

The study also asked a more unexpected question through an A/B test: Does wine actually change how we perceive a social occasion? Respondents were shown of two versions of the same dinner scene, one with guests drinking wine and one with water. Those who saw guests drinking wine were more likely to perceive the group as close friends, the atmosphere as warm and relaxed, and the occasion as special or memorable.

All of these responses comes at a time when we say we want to see our friends and family more, but busy schedules, rising costs and the effort of actually getting everyone together keeps those gatherings from ever reaching the calendar.

The timing of the study isn’t so much linked to the Labor Day holiday as to the first full month of fall. Created by wine journalist Karen MacNeil — and public relations and communications veterans Gino Colangelo and Kimberly Noelle Charles DipWSET — “Come Over October” (a campaign under the trio’s mission-driven company, Come Together— A Community for Wine Inc.) encourages friends, family, and colleagues to “come over” during the month of October.

Here’s a link to a story with more details on the study and its results.

Barbara Fitzgerald, Program Director, Campaigns for COME TOGETHER – A Community for Wine, spearheaded this research initiative. Sent several questions about it, she provided the responses below:

Q, Is this the first year for this study and, if so, what prompted it? And if you’ve done it before, how much did the answers change?

A, Yes, this is the first year we’ve conducted this research. The idea behind “Come Over October” is simple: people want more connection, wine creates a natural occasion for it, and sometimes we just need to give people the reason to come together. We wanted to better understand what that looks like in consumer’s lives today: how often they’re getting together, what gets in the way, what might make it easier, and where does wine fit into those occasions?

We partnered with LocalWineEvents.com because they gave us access to a large national audience of 250,000 people who already have some relationship with wine. More than 1,500 people responded, and the results gave us real data behind much of what we’ve been talking about since launching “Come Over October.”

Q, What does the research reveal about today’s wine consumer and what it could mean for wineries, retailers and the broader industry?

A,, One of my biggest takeaways was also a bit of a face-palm, “well, duh” moment: consumers are telling us, in different ways, that they want more reasons and easier ways to enjoy wine.

Nearly half said they’d be more likely to get together if they had a reason or occasion to do it. That’s a pretty important signal for the industry. We spend a lot of time talking about what’s in the bottle, but perhaps not enough time helping people figure out what to do with it.

For wineries and retailers, that can be very practical. Give someone an idea for a dinner, a playlist, an easy pairing, a pre-written invitation to send to friends, conversation starters to get the night going. Create an occasion rather than simply promoting a bottle. Make wine feel easy to bring into the life they’re already living.

Q, Considering all of the issues affecting the industry, roughly what percentage do you think is related to people simply not getting together enough?

A, I don’t think I can responsibly put a percentage on that without speculating. There are too many forces affecting wine right now, from economics and changing demographics to neoprohibitonists and broader shifts in alcohol consumption.

But I do think occasion is an important piece of the puzzle that the industry can actually do something about right now. Wine has historically been connected to meals, conversation and time spent with other people. If people are entertaining less or getting together less often, then it makes sense there are fewer of those occasions for wine. Our research suggests that people still want that connection, but 77% of them said they’re simply busy. So how do we compete with busy? Do some of the heavy lifting for them, and make it easy to say yes.

Q, Is there anything here that wineries can take away from and change?

Absolutely. Just make it as easy as possible.

We can sometimes make wine more complicated than it needs to be. Consumers don’t always need another lesson in terroir or tasting notes to enjoy it. I think of it like this: You don’t need to understand chord progressions to love a song. Maybe you do, and that knowledge makes you appreciate it in a different way. Or maybe you don’t, and that music still makes you feel something. Wine works in the same way — knowing more can enrich the experience, but it shouldn’t be a pre-requisite for enjoying it. Sometimes people just need someone to say: invite four friends over, put on this playlist, order a pizza, open this bottle.

That’s something a winery of any size can do. Don’t just sell the bottle. Give people an idea for enjoying it. Create reasons, rituals and occasions that people can actually use. If we want wine to remain part of people’s lives, we have to help make it easy to put it there.